Yes, after all, statues were being made before people had access to writing utensils. In fact, it's probably better. Instead of wasting your time practicing converting 3d art to 2-dimensional drawings, you can practice sculpting better. Just do an expletive amount of it XD...with practice, you'll pick up on every detail.

I struggled with this question as well. For me, the whole point of doing computer based stuff, was so the computer could help me - you know, when you're drawing a doodle on paper, as compared to using a Bezier curve tool in a 2D program..? - ie. you can change the shape by pulling the handles, not to mention that there's UNDO!! - THAT really helped me. I was kind of thinking, the first time I used a 3D program - is this thing going to "assist" me or not?

Turned out, not.

IF there's been some sea change in 3D programs since then, I'd love to know - something where you DON'T start off with a box, and push and pull it into <whatever shape you want>....
What exactly is this "Grease Pencil" thing in Blender, then?

The best professional 3D artist I ever worked with didn't draw that I knew of. But let's be frank here, do you dislike ALL forms of traditional art? Sculpture, photography, painting too? There's a slew of ways to hone your focal inner artist. I personally LOVE photography and its vastly improved my CG art in a myriad of ways. I also had a youthful background in clay sculpture as well. Could you become awesome without doing a lick of traditional art in your life? My quick answer is yes, if you are a freak of talent with lots of hours of hard work, but traditional art can make that journey oh so much shorter in my opinion.

Originally Posted by iamhereintheworld:IF there's been some sea change in 3D programs since then, I'd love to know - something where you DON'T start off with a box, and push and pull it into <whatever shape you want>....
What exactly is this "Grease Pencil" thing in Blender, then?

It's a free-hand curve drawing tool. It has some neat features, but it doesn't revolutionize modeling.

I don't think I dislike all forms of traditional art. Mainly drawing, which is funny because I enjoy writing. I know I like sculpting and would like to do pottery at some point. I don't mind photography, it can be somewhat fun at times but I can't really say much about painting since I don't remember doing it all that much. My initial response to painting is "why would I want to do that?" so I'm guessing it's not something I like.

Originally Posted by iamhereintheworld:IF there's been some sea change in 3D programs since then, I'd love to know - something where you DON'T start off with a box, and push and pull it into <whatever shape you want>....

As long as the user input is limited to a 2D device (mouse or digitizing tablet like a Wacom tablet), you're not going to see a revolution in 3D modeling. There's only so much you can do with translating 2D movement into 3D form. There still will be improvements, but they'll be just evolutionary changes, small steps.

VR modeling software seem promising in breaking that mold of starting from a box. Take a look at the workflow of Occulus Medium. It builds upon the same sort of 3D modeling workflow used in 3ds max and Maya. You can start off with a box, and push and pull it into your desired shape, but in Medium, the manipulation and feedback is in 3D, not 3D projection onto 2D, so it may be be more intuitive for some artists.

Gravity Sketch is the other noteworthy VR modeling software, and it breaks away from the traditional box modeling workflow by sketching out the form in 3D space. As the name implies, you'll need some degree of sketching or drawing skill to use it. But the input here uses two controllers in 3D space, so again, it may be more intuitive for some artists. Check out this modeling timelapse by Wojtek Fus:

pomru: I'd heard of Oculus, but - not a fan of Mr. Zuck. Huge fan of Mr. Carmack, but not Zuck.

The 2nd one though, looks awesome! - but it will have to have a Gear VR version if I have to try it out - MAYBE! , cuz Oc and Vive are both too expensive, and I may buy a GearVR someday - I'm only Vaguely contemplating it.

Originally Posted by friendfromarea51:Stuff for drawing, or even writing, weren't available to populations until recent history (relatively). Long before people could practice drawing, they had clay.

Rubbish. The earliest surviving works of art are cave paintings and drawings; literally just pigment and water on a surface. Clay also is also not universally available, many early cultures never had local access to it.

Also the suggestion that those 15th C sculptors didn't draw is a very big stretch. The typical process for gothic sculptors was a combination of 2D and 3D planning, often small 3D maquettes, sketches, and 2D plans. Those 2D plans were often transferred directly to the sides of the stone slab to let the sculptor know where the negative spaces were and track proportion.

In the end its all about getting your model out.
The irony is the more I felt comfortable in modeling the more I started to rely on sketches.
(I think this is because the transfer sketch to 3d became a lesser bottleneck)

Sketching ideas is very usefull tool for checking proportions developing ideas, or even just note some interesting stuff
These don't have to be good looking or been made to be readeable by others (although its also quite helpfull to
communicate ideas with others), they are primarly a tool to _assist_ you in the model creation.
If you can do this stuff without sketches....

Originally Posted by unaccompanieddminor:Rubbish. The earliest surviving works of art are cave paintings and drawings; literally just pigment and water on a surface. Clay also is also not universally available, many early cultures never had local access to it.

Also the suggestion that those 15th C sculptors didn't draw is a very big stretch. The typical process for gothic sculptors was a combination of 2D and 3D planning, often small 3D maquettes, sketches, and 2D plans. Those 2D plans were often transferred directly to the sides of the stone slab to let the sculptor know where the negative spaces were and track proportion.

In any case, neither of those points have bearing on the OP.

Interesting, though not really. I think the point is being missed. You don't see 700 copies of the same picture on a cave painting where they refined their skill to eventually make a mona lisa.

A person doing character art doesn't have to be a surgeon, nor does a person doing hard surface modeling have to be a mechanic to be the best. A musician doesn't have to know how to build their instrument, just how to play it. In fact, many modelers don't even have a formal education or study of anything. They just modeled, over and over and over again. Same as the best musicians in the world can't build their own instrument.

My point is that yes, you can be the best modeler in the world, without ever drawing a single thing on paper. That definitely applies to the OP. Trust me, I've seen some of the sketches of the modelers, who can do just about anything in 3d, and would suggest some stick to modeling XD.

Drawing skills are helpful to just about any creative activity. It allows for testing of ideas and for communicating ideas to others quickly. If you are just copying designs made by others maybe it's not a skill you need. Personally I would recommend learning to like it if you plan on being at all creative.

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